Souter and crew after winning the 2010 Buddy Melges Challenge. Image copyright Dayne Sharp.
by Craig Heydon
Australian sailor Nicky Souter is aiming to defend her world title when racing at the 2010 ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship begins in Rhode Island, USA, on Tuesday.
Australia will be represented by two crews at the New York Yacht Club based event, with Souter teaming up with Nina Curtis, Olivia Price and Laura Baldwin while Katie Spithill will be sailing alongside Jessica Eastwell, Angela Farrell and Stacey Jackson.
The 2010 ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Championship presents a different challenge for the Australian crews, while all of their usual competitors from the World Cup circuit will be there, racing will take place in Sonars, requiring an extra crew member than the Elliott 6 metre which will debut at the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Both Souter and Spithill are confident that even though they have had only limited experience in the Sonar they’ll be ready to go for the first race on Monday.
“Myself, Olivia and Laura have never raced Sonars before, while Nina has done one event on them years ago,” said Souter. “Hopefully, we can adapt to these boats quickly in our limited training time as we have had to make the most of the last few days leading up to the worlds. “
Spithill said, “Both Jess and I have sailed the Sonars previously about six years ago, so our memory of sailing these boats is a bit vague, but we’ve had the last week together as a team to nut out all the action plans and had a few days to work on our boat speed and maneuverability.”
Souter, Curtis and Price head into the event following back to back Grade 1 regatta victories, after Gold medals at the final round of the ISAF Sailing World Cup in Weymouth, England, in August and at the Buddy Melges event in Wisconsin last week.
“As a team we’re feeling great,” said Souter. “Our win in Weymouth meant a lot as we received the 24th and final entry into the event and then to back up our win in the Buddy Melges against a lot of the crews from Weymouth was a great confidence boost. “Nina, Olivia and I have welcomed Laura Baldwin into our team and it’s been great having that extra person on board to bring more experience to our team.”
“Our match racing training has been full steam ahead these last few months in Europe and the UK, unfortunately it meant we had little to no time for Sonar training before this week,” she said. “After the Buddy Melges regatta we charted some Sonars for a few days training. With the weather conditions zero to two knots on day one and then up to 20 knots on day two, we have tried to make the most out of the limited conditions as possible.”
While Souter acknowledges there will be pressure on her as defending World Champion she’s looking forward to the challenge ahead of herself Curtis, Price and Baldwin.
“There is always going to be extra pressure being the defending World Champion and winning the last two Women’s Match Racing events, but as we know, the match racing competition is very tough and in the last six World Cups events, we’ve had six winners, and hopefully we can perform as well as we have been these last few months,” said Souter.
Spithill and crew are also keen to get onto the water and face off against the best Women’s Match Racing crews in the world.
“To have Stacey Jackson join Jess, Angela and I as our fourth crewmember has been a great addition to the team and we are all looking forward to the upcoming World Championships,” said Spithill. “We’ve recently had some very close results where we’ve just missed out on the semis or finals, so we’re excited about a new event with new opportunities as a team.”
“I had a disappointing finish to last year’s worlds with the format being cut short and my team falling out on a tie break, so this year we have to ensure that we are at 100 per cent from race one and step it up every day of the competition,” she said. “The competition will be fierce with the Americans and some of the Europeans racing the Sonars for their home match racing events.”
“Even though we are sailing the Sonar here rather than the Elliot 6 metre all the top teams in the world are still competing and so the competition will be tough,” said Spithill. “Any opportunity for a win is important leading up to the 2012 London Olympic Games.”
Racing begins in Rhode Island on September 21 with the 2010 ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Champion to be crowned on Saturday September 25.
Australian Sailing Team
